Posted by Paul Bankhead, Director, Product Management, Google Play
Mobile gaming is more popular than ever. Over the past year, we saw breakout
hits, including Pokemon
GO, Star
Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, Clash
Royale and Reigns
introduce new, high quality gaming experiences on Google Play. Gamers around the
world were also able to access Google Play more easily than ever before, helping
developers reach a larger audience and grow their businesses. In 2016, nearly
300 million new (30 day active) users adopted Android devices from emerging
markets such as India, Brazil, and Indonesia. And last year, more than 100
million new users were able to access locally relevant forms of payments (such
as direct carrier billing or gift cards) helping more people globally access and
buy their favorite apps and games on Google Play.
Weve also focused heavily on polishing our software and hardware offerings to
improve the overall gaming experience on Android. The release of Nougat
delivered high-performance realtime 3D graphics with the Vulkan API and the
launch of Pixel phones
provided the first Daydream-ready devices tailored for immersive mobile VR.
Elsewhere, the expansion of Firebase provided the
tools and infrastructure to support developers throughout the lifecycle of their
game with features like real-time analytics, push notifications, storage, and
ads. To streamline the integration, Firebase is now completely available for C++
and Unity developers.
- NEW FEATURES TO HELP YOU SUCCEED ON GOOGLE PLAY
Today, during our annual Developer
Day at the Game Developers Conference, we introduced new tools to improve
the overall discovery on Google Play, especially supporting developers who build
high quality and engaging games.
- Promoting high quality experiences based on engagement, not just
installs: With the enormous variety of games available on Google Play,
there are many instances when great games dont get the visibility and attention
they deserve. Recently, weve begun tuning our algorithms to optimize for user
engagement, not just downloads. This is one of our ways to reward quality, which
for games means promoting titles with stickiness (strong engagement and
retention metrics) as well as a more traditional measure like a high star
rating.
- Offer sales and increase purchases of premium games with
strikethrough pricing: Available in the Google Play Developer Console
starting today, strikethrough pricing allows developers to run their own price
promotions on paid apps and games leading to greater awareness and conversion.
During our pilot phase, developers not only saw a 3x�20x lift in installs during
their promotions, they also maintained a nice lift once the sales ended.
- More curation of high quality games through editorial pages:
One more way well highlight quality games is through new editorial
pages on the Play store launching later this month. These pages allow our
editors to hand-select games exemplifying optimal gaming experiences on Android.
They allow users to explore different game styles and genres with editorial
reviews on themes such as epic RPGs and top racing games.
- UPCOMING GAMES ON GOOGLE PLAY
At our Developer Day, we also gave attendees a sneak peek at some high-fidelity
games coming to Google Play later this year. Including titles from major studios
to indies, and even two new VR titles, theres something for every gamer!
- Available for pre-registration on Google Play
- TRANSFORMERS:
Forged to Fight by Kabam is a new high-definition, action-fighting
mobile game set in an immersive world. The game will feature authentic
Transformers "more than meets the eye" action, allowing players to engage with
Optimus Prime, Megatron and many other popular Autobots and Decepticons in a
stunning 3D environment. The game will be available worldwide on April 5, 2017.
- Battle
Breakers is a new frenetic tactical role-playing game from Epic
Games, powered by Unreal Engine 4. A vibrant fantasy sci-fi cartoon adventure,
Battle Breakers lets you recruit and build a dream team from hundreds of unique
heroes to battle monsters as you take back the Kingdom, one break at a time!
- Injustice
2 lets you guide your stable of Super Heroes and Villains to
victory. Expanding on the hit game Injustice: Gods Among Us, Injustice 2
delivers brand new characters, tons of exciting new modes and the look and
fighting style that NetherRealm Studios is known for. Injustice 2 will be
available on Google Play for Android devices in May.
- Coming soon
- Virtual Rabbids is the first VR Rabbids experience on
mobile developed by Ubisoft Montpellier in collaboration with Bucharest.
Available this spring on Daydream, players will find themselves in some of the
most precarious situations as they race to save the planet.
- Beartopia is a cooperative multiplayer village game by Spry
Fox. Make friends, work together and grow a thriving community.
Later this afternoon, well host a series of lightning talks to share what it takes to launch successful VR and AR games, build
with Firebase, implement machine learning in your game, and so much more. Visit our site for more info and the Google Developer Day schedule. For those who
cant make it in person, watch the live stream!
This is just the start of what we have planned for 2017. We hope you can make
use of these tools to improve your games, engage your audience, and grow your
business and revenue.
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